Hancock - a review
When I was a kid, I used to like tinned cling peaches. Loved ‘em, couldn’t get enough of them. Peaches with cream, peaches with rice pudding, peaches with custard, peaches with more peaches. Then one day I stole two tins of them from the larder, went to the shed and ate both tins. Needless to say I was sick as a dog. And I’ve never liked them since.
Well, that’s sort of how I feel about Will Smith. Great in MiB (but not a patch on Tommy Lee), and great in The Pursuit of Happyness, but the problem is over-exposure. The thing with Smith is that he is a brilliant character actor. Provided that character is Will Smith.
So I didn’t have high hopes for this when I sat down to watch it, especially considering that he co-produced it.
The film starts with a fantastic bit of blues harp playing over the credits, so that put me in a better mood. Soon to be cruelly brought back down by a CGI-enhanced car chase that made me think I was watching Bad Boys III – The Solo Career.
And so we meet our hero. He’s a drunk. A clumsy drunk at that. Every good deed he does is negated by the amount of damage he does. Sort of Dangermouse if he forgot to take his valium. Everybody hates him except for one man who he rescues. A rather hopeless PR man who is trying to save the world. Our man convinces Hancock that with a decent bit of coaching, he could be raised to Superhero status. And then he takes him home to meet the family. How this hapless loser got to be married to Charlize Theron is anybody’s guess. But he is. Jammy git. Even as a housewife mode she’s hot. Very hot.
At this point, had the film producers sent a small Philippine round to my house in order to bash me round the head with a damp tuna, while the film score played the General Lee’s air horns turned up to 11 and the screen simultaneously flashed up a sign saying “Hancock fancies her and she fancies him”, it would be more subtle than the film itself.
To cut a long story short, Hancock is sent to jail for the damage he has caused, and while he’s there he turns into a nice guy, gaining a rather worrying black leather Superhero suit. Of course he saves the day and then goes out with Mr PR and wife to celebrate. Mr PR gets pissed and comatose leaving our hero and his wife in the kitchen. He makes a move and she rebuffs him, but they arrange to meet the following day to talk it over.
Sitting through this film was made worthwhile purely for the sight of Ms Theron dressed in black with her fun bags trying desperately to get some fresh air. But sadly it is not to be. It’s the old story. Boy meets girl. Boy wants girl. Girl wants boy. Girl decides to stay with husband. Boy is devastated.
And that’s all of the story I’m going to give away. It’s not a bad film, but then again it’s not a particularly good film. It may or may not have been better with someone other than Smith in the lead role. It’s quite a good story, but it was let down by the CGI department getting carried away.
Probably worth renting when it comes out, but if you fell asleep due to an overload of beer and pizza, you wouldn’t need to be too disappointed.
Best Line – “Did you really stick a man’s head up another man’s ass?”
Best gag – The whale
Best performance – Jason Bateman as the PR Guy.
Best hot woman in black dress – Erm…